European Parliament vice-president in Nazi controversy

Jacek Protasiewicz, a centre-right Polish MEP who is one of the Parliament’s 14 vice-presidents, faces charges in Germany after allegedly insulting a customs official. He denies the charges.

The charges could, in principle, lead to the lifting of the immunity he enjoys as a member of the European Parliament.

Protasiewicz is a senior figure in Poland’s Civic Platform of Prime Minister Donald Tusk, part of the European People’s Party (EPP).

The German tabloid Bild reported yesterday (27 February) that Protasiewicz had on Tuesday insulted a German customs official at Frankfurt airport after being challenged. Protasiewicz is supposed to have responded by saying “Heil Hitler”. German police told local media on Thursday that they had filed charges against the MEP for insulting an official.

Protasiewicz rejected the account presented in Bild, describing it as “misleading and offensive” during a plenary debate in Strasbourg yesterday. He said that he had been “improperly treated” on his way to the European Parliament. “I have no doubt that in this way protocol number seven to the [EU’s] Treaty was violated,” he said. The protocol sets out the privileges and immunities of MEPs.

“I asked the president of Parliament, Mr Martin Schulz, for an appropriate response to this violation of European law,” he said.

A spokesman for Schulz said that he could not comment on the case because the details were not clear.

The minutes of this week’s plenary session in Strasbourg list Protasiewicz as absent on Monday and Tuesday (24-25 February) and present on Wednesday and Thursday.